JIHADISTS TORCH STATUES, CROSSES IN SYRIAN CHURCHES
Fars News Agency, Iran
Sept 27 2013
TEHRAN (FNA)- Jihadist fighters linked to the Al-Qaeda set fire to
statues and crosses inside churches in Northern Syria, and destroyed
a cross on a church clock tower, a watchdog said.
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters entered the
Greek Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Annunciation in the Northern
city of Raqa and torched the religious furnishings inside, the Syria
Observatory for Human Rights said.
They did the same at the Armenian Catholic Church of the Martyrs,
and also destroyed a cross atop its clock tower, replacing it with
the ISIL flag, the Observatory said, AFP reported.
Additionally, Christians clerics have been kidnapped, and some brutally
murdered, by jihadists.
In January, the Middle-East director of Human Rights Watch, Sarah
Leah Whitson, said, “The destruction of religious sites is furthering
sectarian fears and compounding the tragedies of the country.
“Syria will lose its rich cultural and religious diversity if armed
groups do not respect places of worship.”
The New York-based group said that “while some opposition leaders
have pledged to protect all Syrians, in practice the opposition has
failed to properly address the unjustified attacks against minority
places of worship.”
At the outset of the rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad,
rebels welcomed the support of jihadist groups, largely made up of
foreign fighters.
But the jihadists, who have reached a position of dominance in
specific parts of the country, are increasingly alienating the native
population.
On Thursday, an ISIL commander from the United Arab Emirates was killed
in fighting with Kurds in the North of Syria, the Observatory said.
A report on Thursday said that Al-Qaeda-linked militants in Syria
have destroyed several Jewish mausoleums in the historical town of
Tadouf in the Northern city of Aleppo.
Militants reportedly demolished a number of the most ancient Jewish
mausoleums in Aleppo in North of Syria.
Foreign-backed militants have so far destroyed many religious sites
in Syria since the unrest began in 2011.
Earlier this month, members of the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front
attacked the historical Christian village of Maaloula near the capital,
Damascus, and destroyed parts of it, before Syrian security forces
arrived to repel them.
Three of the seven historical churches in the village were burnt by
the anti-Damascus militants.
Maaloula – a mountain village of 2,000 residents, 60km Northeast
of Damascus – is a major pilgrimage destination for Christians from
around the world.
It’s home to some of the most ancient Orthodox Christian relics and is
also one of the very few places in the world where people still speak
Aramaic, a biblical-era language that Jesus is believed to have spoken.
In mid-August, The Syrian armed rebels killed tens of civilians and
injured dozens more by attacking two Christian-populated villages in
Homs countryside.
A group of extremist armed rebels attacked two villages of Al-Hasn
and Marmarita mostly populated by Christian citizens, killed more
than 15 villagers and injured many more.
The Syrian army, however, repelled the attacks and pushed back the
militants who were trying to capture other villages of Homs countryside
in Western Syria.
The conflict in Syria started in March 2011, when sporadic pro-reform
protests turned into a massive insurgency following the intervention
of western and regional states.
The unrest, which took in terrorist groups from across Europe, the
Middle-East and North Africa, has transpired as one of the bloodiest
conflicts in recent history.
As the foreign-backed insurgency in Syria continues without an end
in sight, the US government has boosted its political and military
support to Takfiri extremists.
Washington has remained indifferent to warnings by Russia and other
world powers about the consequences of arming militant groups.
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